Portable defibrillator used for display, hardcopy, and control for other devices

ABSTRACT

A portable defibrillator according to embodiments of the present invention includes a defibrillator engine configured to receive defibrillator information from defibrillator sensors coupled to a patient and display the defibrillator information; an external device engine configured to receive information from medical device sensors coupled to the patient; a medical device virtual machine configured to display the patient parameter information from the external device engine; and a display screen operating a user interface through which the defibrillator engine displays the defibrillator information and the medical device virtual machine displays the patient parameter information from the external device engine.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/883,779, filed on Sep. 27, 2013, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to medical devicesand, in particular, relate to improved medical devices for emergencyscenarios.

BACKGROUND

Medical services are required in many emergency situations. To providethose medical services, trained personnel, such as paramedics, usemedical equipment, such as defibrillators, when responding to medicalneeds in emergency situations. At the same time, emergency situationsoften occur away from locations directly accessible by an ambulance. Forexample, paramedics may need to respond to a medical emergency in anapartment or office at the top of a skyscraper. In those situations,paramedics must carry the medical equipment with them. The complexitiesof many emergency situations and the potentially unknown medicalrequirements of persons in those emergency situations can require theparamedics to transport a variety of medical equipment. This canoverburden and slow down the paramedics, costing precious time that isneeded to save lives.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments of the present invention, multiple medicaldevices share resources in order to decrease the amount of equipmentneeded to respond to medical emergencies. For example, a portabledefibrillator is equipped with a screen and operates to collect anddisplay defibrillator information on its screen. The portabledefibrillator also connects with a medical device, such as an ultrasoundtransducer, and collects and displays ultrasound information using thatsame screen. In some embodiments, one or more independent virtualmachines operate on the portable defibrillator. The portabledefibrillator performs defibrillator functions and one of the virtualmachines performs ultrasound operations. The portable defibrillator mayserve as a virtual machine host that is able to override or shut downthe virtual machine performing ultrasound operations based on userinput, detection of an error condition, or detection of an alarmcondition. While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still otherembodiments of the present invention will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following detailed description, which showsand describes illustrative embodiments of the invention. Accordingly,the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrativein nature and not restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts components of a portable defibrillator, according toembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts components of an ultrasound machine, according toembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts components of a portable defibrillator coupled with anultrasound transducer, according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 depicts a virtual machine host and a virtual machine, as well asexemplary operating blocks for each machine, according to embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts steps taken by a virtual machine host to shut down avirtual machine, according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a user interface of the portable defibrillator ofFIG. 3 when operating in the defibrillator mode.

FIG. 7 illustrates a user interface of the portable defibrillator ofFIG. 3 when operating in the ultrasound mode.

FIG. 8 illustrates a user interface of the portable defibrillator ofFIG. 3 when operating in the joint display mode.

FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface of the portable defibrillator ofFIG. 3 when operating in the GPS mode.

FIG. 10 illustrates a user interface of the portable defibrillator ofFIG. 3 when operating in the endoscopy mode.

FIG. 11 illustrates a user interface of the portable defibrillator ofFIG. 3 when operating in the EEG mode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In emergency situations, paramedics are asked to perform emergencymedical services to injured individuals. In order to address a varietyof medical situations, paramedics often need a variety of medicaldevices. For example, portable defibrillators are used to treat cardiacdysrhythmia and/or to monitor cardiac conditions using ECG leads. Foranother example, ultrasound machines are used to provide diagnosticimages and/or ultrasonic treatment to patients. Other exemplary medicaldevices used by paramedics includes: ventilators, oximeters, bloodpressure monitors, and/or the like. In addition, paramedics also usenon-medical equipment, such as GPS devices, to precisely locateemergencies. While paramedics frequently require multiple devices in anygiven emergency, carrying and using each piece of equipment separatelyis cumbersome and can lead to wasted time—a precious commodity inmedical emergencies.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the medical devicesare modified in order to share resources, such as display screens,printers, controls, wireless connections, etc., in order to reduce theamount of equipment that a paramedic must carry. For example, a portabledefibrillator, which already includes a screen for displaying cardiacinformation, may be modified to couple with an ultrasound transducer,process the physiological information provided by that transducer, anddisplay the resulting image on the screen. Thus, rather than carryingand operating two complete medical devices, the paramedic can simplycarry and operate the portable defibrillator with the ultrasonictransducer. Furthermore, in some embodiments, devices that shareresources have reduced power requirements compared to two completedevices. As explained below in more detail, resources may be sharedbetween multiple medical devices or between a medical device and anon-medical device, such as a GPS, further reducing the amount ofequipment that the paramedic must carry and operate.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a portable defibrillator 102 includes a CPU 104operatively coupled to a data storage device 106, a screen 108,peripheral equipment 110, and a power supply 111. Peripheral equipment110 includes components such as a printer (for providing hardcopies of,for example, ECG or capnography stripcharts) and/or a wireless/cellularadapter. The power supply 111 may include an energy storage device (forexample, a battery). The CPU 104 is also operatively coupled to userinput devices 112, such as panel-mounted controls and/or a touchscreen,as well as defibrillator sensors 114. The portable defibrillator 102 mayinclude additional components not depicted in FIG. 1, such as paddles,and may not have every component depicted in FIG. 1, such as theperipheral equipment 110. In one operational aspect, the defibrillatorsensors 114 are attached to a patient and measure physiological data,which are sent to the CPU 104. The CPU 104 processes that data andpresents the resulting physiological parameters to paramedics using thescreen 108 and/or the peripheral equipment 110. The CPU 104 may alsostore the physiological parameters in the data storage device 106.Throughout this process, the paramedic may provide input via the userinput devices 112.

As shown in FIG. 2, an ultrasound machine 202 includes a CPU 204operatively coupled to a storage device 206, a screen 208, andperipheral equipment 210. Peripheral equipment 210 includes componentssuch as a printer (for providing hardcopies of, for example, ultrasoundimages). The CPU 204 is also operatively coupled to user input devices212, such as a keyboard, mouse, and/or touchscreen, as well as anultrasound transducer 216. The ultrasound machine 202 may includeadditional components not depicted in FIG. 2 and may not have everycomponent depicted in FIG. 2. In one operational aspect, the ultrasoundtransducer 216 measures physiological data, which are sent to the CPU204. The CPU 204 processes that data and presents the resultingphysiological parameters (including, e.g., the ultrasonic image) toparamedics using the screen 208 and/or the peripheral equipment 210. TheCPU 204 may also store the physiological parameters in the storagedevice 206. Throughout this process, the paramedic may provide input viathe user input devices 212.

Thus, there is significant overlap between the resources used by theportable defibrillator 102 and the ultrasound machine 202, including,for example, the screen 108, 208. There is similar overlap for manymedical and non-medical devices. By modifying the medical devices andnon-medical devices to share resources, paramedics will be able to carrya lighter load and more quickly access needed functionalities. Inaddition, the medical devices and non-medical devices may have reducedpower requirements by sharing resources. As discussed below in moredetail, in some embodiments a medical device is modified to addfunctionalities associated with some other medical device withoutsubtracting any of its existing functionalities. In those embodiments,the medical device is referred as a primary device and the other medicaldevice is referred to as a secondary device. For example, in theembodiments shown in FIG. 3, a portable defibrillator is the primarydevice and the ultrasound machine is the secondary device.

Specifically, and as shown in FIG. 3, a portable defibrillator 302includes a CPU 304 operatively coupled to a data storage device 306, ascreen 308, peripheral equipment 310, such as a printer, and a powersupply 311. The CPU 304 is also operatively coupled to user inputdevices 312, such as panel-mounted controls and/or a touchscreen, aswell as defibrillator sensors 314 and an ultrasound transducer 316. Theportable defibrillator 302 may include additional components notdepicted in FIG. 3, such as paddles, and may not have every componentdepicted in FIG. 3, such as the peripheral equipment 310.

In some embodiments the ultrasound transducer 316 is physically coupled(i.e., tethered) to the portable defibrillator 302 via a cabledconnection. In those embodiments, the ultrasound transducer 316 mayreceive power from the power supply 311. In other embodiments, theultrasound transducer 316 and portable defibrillator 302 are configuredto wirelessly communicate. In those embodiments, the ultrasoundtransducer 316 includes its own power supply. In those embodiments, theportable defibrillator 311 may provide an alarm if the power supply ofthe ultrasound transducer 316 is low or depleted. Additional securitymeasures may be employed when connecting wirelessly. For example, aparticular ultrasound transducer 316 may be assigned a particularidentifier so that it will communicate with only a particular portabledefibrillator 302. In this manner, multiple portable defibrillators andultrasound transducers may be used in close proximity. Additionalsecurity features (e.g., encryption) may also be employed.

In one operational aspect, the defibrillator sensors 314 are attached toa patient and measure physiological data, which are sent to the CPU 304.The CPU 304 processes that data and presents the resulting physiologicalparameters to paramedics using the monitor 308. The CPU 304 may alsostore the physiological parameters in the data storage device 306. Inanother operational aspect, the ultrasound transducer 316 measuresphysiological data, which are sent to the CPU 304. The CPU 304 processesthat data and presents the resulting physiological parameters(including, e.g., the ultrasonic image) to paramedics using the monitor308. The CPU 304 may also store the physiological parameters in the datastorage device 306. For example, the data storage device 306 may storean ultrasound image that provides a record of an endotracheal intubationprocedure. Such a record would often not be captured or easilyretrievable as would the patient encounter information stored in datastorage device 306 by defibrillator 302, because such a record wouldnormally be captured and/or stored only on the stand-alone ultrasounddevice. Instead, according to embodiments of the present invention, theultrasound transducer 316 shares the defibrillator's 302 data storagedevice 306 resource, and the defibrillator 302 is configured to storesuch an ultrasound image associated with the particular patientencounter record to which it relates, so that it is easily accessible inlater review of the disclosure data. In either operational aspect, theparamedic may provide input using the user input devices 312. Additionaldetails regarding these operational aspects and their interactions areprovided below.

As described above with respect to the example of an ultrasound imagebeing stored by the defibrillator along with, and/or associated with,patient encounter information, the defibrillator 302 may similarly beconfigured to supplement its logging capabilities with informationreceived from or generated about the secondary medical devices which aresharing one or more of its resources. This may include images,parameters, or any other data. Such data would normally be “trapped” onthe secondary device or not stored at all, whereas embodiments of thepresent invention permit such data to be stored along with the patientrecord.

In some embodiments, the CPU 304 processes data received from thedefibrillator sensors 314 and the ultrasound transducer 316 and presentsthe resulting physiological parameters using the peripheral equipment310. If the peripheral equipment 310 includes a printer, for example,the physiological parameters may be presented as both ECG or capnographystripcharts and ultrasound images.

In some embodiments, the ultrasound transducer 316 includes only thosecomponents necessary to transmit ultrasonic sound pulses into thepatient (for ultrasonic therapy). In other embodiments, the ultrasoundtransducer 316 includes only those components necessary to transmitultrasonic sound pulses into the patient and to detect reflected soundpulses (for ultrasonic imaging). In yet other embodiments, theultrasound transducer 316 includes its own CPU for processing thephysiologic data into physiological parameters (e.g., the ultrasonicimage), and the resulting physiological parameters are sent to the CPU304 for presentation to the paramedics using the monitor 308 and/or theperipheral equipment 310. Thus, the amount of resources shared betweendevices may vary. Stated differently, the portable defibrillator 302 mayincorporate most, if not all, of the data processing and other relatedfeatures of the other medical device. As a result, only those componentsthat physically interact with the patient and communicate measuredparameters are required in order for the portable defibrillator 302 toprovide all of the functionality of the other medical device.

While the embodiments provided above discuss a portable defibrillatorthat includes ultrasound functionalities, it should be noted that theinvention is not limited to those two devices or their respectivefunctionalities. Generally speaking, some embodiments of the inventionuse a portable defibrillator that includes functionalities for anynumber of medical or non-medical devices. Other embodiments use adifferent primary device (medical or non-medical) that incorporatesfunctionalities from any number of secondary medical or non-medicaldevices.

In some embodiments, a medical device may act as a virtual machine hostand operate one or more virtual machines. Each virtual machinecorresponds to a particular medical device. For example, as shown inFIG. 4, a medical device 402 acts as a virtual machine host and includesone virtual machine 432 that corresponds to a particular medical device.While FIG. 4 depicts one virtual machine, in other embodiments themedical device 402 may include two, three, four, or five virtualmachines, or may include more virtual machines.

In FIG. 4, the medical device 402 is a defibrillator machine thatperforms the functions of a defibrillator and acts as a virtual machinehost. Virtual machine 432 is an ultrasound virtual machine 432 thatperforms the functions of an ultrasound machine. Specifically, in theembodiments shown in FIG. 4, the defibrillator machine 402 includesfunctional blocks for receiving and processing user input (block 434),receiving and processing sensor input (block 436), processing the inputdata to generate physiological parameters (block 438), generating acorresponding user interface for presenting the physiological parametersand/or soliciting user input (block 440), transmitting or storing thephysiological parameters (block 442), and providing power to the medicaldevice (block 443). Similarly, the ultrasound virtual machine 432includes functional blocks for receiving and processing user input(block 444), receiving and processing transducer input (block 446),processing the input data to generate physiological parameters (block448), generating a corresponding user interface for presenting thephysiological parameters and/or soliciting user input (block 450), andtransmitting or storing the physiological parameters (block 452).

In some embodiments, the virtual machine host 402 may perform thefunctions of a medical device or may be solely tasked with supervisingone or more virtual machines. In either case, the virtual machine host402 is able to monitor the operations of the virtual machines andinterrupt or shut down some or all of the virtual machines. For exampleand as shown in FIG. 5, the virtual machine host 402 monitors thevirtual machines to detect any error conditions within those virtualmachines. The error conditions may include internal errors, such asregistry errors, faulty components, segmentation faults, and/or thelike. The ability to shut down malfunctioning virtual machines allowsthe medical device 402 and the remaining virtual machines to continue tooperate, so that paramedics are not denied access to critical functionsin emergency situations.

The virtual machine host 402, in some embodiments, may also monitoralarm conditions from one or more virtual machines. As described belowin more detail, the screen of a primary device, e.g., a portabledefibrillator, may be used to display physiological parameters from avirtual machine. Meanwhile, the remaining virtual machines (and, in someembodiments, the virtual machine host 402) continue to process data andgenerate physiological parameters. If any of those parameters exceed analarm threshold, the virtual machine host 402 will detect the alarmcondition and will automatically instruct the corresponding virtualmachine to display its physiological parameters, including the alarmingcondition, according to embodiments of the present invention. In thismanner, paramedics can be quickly apprised of alarming conditionswithout needing to search through all the possible virtual machines. Inthe same fashion, when a user is viewing in a primary displayinformation which is not critical to patient care from or about thevirtual machine, and the virtual machine host 402 (for example, adefibrillator) detects a certain condition, it may be configured toreplace the primary display information with information that has beenobtained or determined by its sensor input 436 and/or algorithms 438 inorder to provide the information which the paramedic needs most forpatient care at that particular time. For example, if the primarydisplay of a defibrillator device is being used to perform an ultrasoundoperation with a communication link between the defibrillator and theultrasound device, and if the patient enters cardiac arrest, thedefibrillator may be configured to automatically override the primarydisplay in order to display the patient information from thedefibrillator.

FIGS. 6-11 depict a modified medical device 602, such as a portabledefibrillator, that uses a variety of user interfaces in order tocommunicate information with and receive input from paramedics. Forexample, FIGS. 6-11 depict a defibrillator user interface 604, anultrasound user interface 704, a joint user interface 804, a GPS userinterface 904, an endoscopy user interface 1004, and anelectroencephalography (EEG) user interface 1104, respectively. In someembodiments, the user interfaces 604, 704, 804, 904, 1004, and 1104 havecommon components, such as soft buttons 606-610. These soft buttons606-610 may be selected through user input means, such as panel mountedcontrols or a touch screen. The predetermined functions associated witheach of the soft buttons 606-610 may change depending on the particularuser interface operated by a particular virtual machine. The medicaldevice 602 may also include hard buttons 612-616, which are eachassociated with predetermined functions. In this regard, the userinterfaces 604, 704, 804, 904, 1004, and 1104 can emulate or mimic theuser interface originally provided on the secondary device, with thenumber of soft buttons changing to match what is provided in theoriginal user interface. The predetermined functions associated witheach of the hard buttons 612-616 may change depending on the particularuser interface operated by a particular virtual machine, or thepredetermined functions may be the same for all virtual machines. Forexample, hard button 612 may always be associated with a “home” functionthat will instruct medical device 602 to display a home screen or a“home” user interface (e.g., the defibrillator user interface 604). Insome embodiments, the functions associated with soft buttons 606-610and/or hard buttons 612-616 are not predetermined but may be assigned onthe fly by the paramedics.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the defibrillator user interface 604 includes aparameter window 620 in which the defibrillator information, includingphysiological parameters (for example, an ECG waveform), may bedisplayed in chart form. The defibrillator user interface 604 includessoft buttons 606-610, which are each associated with predeterminedfunctions, such as cycle display, zoom in/out, print, save, and thelike.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the ultrasound user interface 704 includes aparameter window 720 in which the ultrasound information, which mayinclude physiological parameters as well as an ultrasound image, may bedisplayed. The ultrasound user interface 704 includes soft buttons606-610, which are each associated with predetermined functions, such aszoom in/out, print, save, and the like.

Referring now to FIG. 8, the joint user interface 804 includes twoparameter windows 820, 822 in which information from a virtual machinehost and a virtual machine may be simultaneously displayed. For example,as shown in FIG. 8, information from the defibrillator and theultrasound virtual machine are both displayed. In FIG. 8, the windows820, 822 are shown as vertically aligned but other configurations arealso contemplated, such as horizontally aligned, overlapping,picture-in-picture, etc. In some embodiments, more than two windows maybe used to display information from more virtual machines. In otherembodiments, multiple windows may be used to display information from asingle virtual machine. In some embodiments, the soft buttons 606-610are used to close one or both of the parameter windows. In thosescenarios, the virtual machine may enlarge the remaining window(s) tooccupy the available space or may leave the windows unchanged untilinstructed by a paramedic.

Referring now to FIG. 9, the GPS user interface 904 includes a window920 in which GPS tracking information is shown. For example, userinterface 904 depicts a map 958 showing the location 962 of the modifiedmedical device 602 in relation to the location 960 of a reportedemergency in an apartment building. Providing GPS tracking informationhelps a paramedic to quickly locate persons in distress, and includingthat functionality into a modified medical device 602, such as aportable defibrillator, enables paramedics to quickly access thatinformation without requiring the use of additional equipment. The softbuttons 606-610 and/or the hard buttons 612-616 may be used to close thewindow 920 or change control to a different virtual machine. In someembodiments, the modified medical device 602 (e.g., via the virtualmachine operating the GPS user interface 902) detects when the paramedichas arrived at the reported emergency (e.g., when the paramedic iswithin a predetermined distance from the emergency) and automaticallytransitions to a “home” medical device mode (e.g., a defibrillatormode). The modified medical device 602 may also detect when theparamedic is far from the reported emergency (e.g., when the paramedicis outside of a predetermined distance from the emergency) andautomatically transitions to the GPS device mode.

Referring now to FIG. 10, the endoscopy user interface 1004 includes aparameter window 1020 in which endoscopy information, which may includephysiological parameters as well as an endoscope image, may bedisplayed. The endoscopy user interface 1004 includes soft buttons606-610, which are each associated with predetermined functions, such aszoom in/out, print, save, and the like. The parameter window 1020 mayalso be displayed as part of a joint user interface that includesmultiple parameter windows.

Referring now to FIG. 11, the EEG user interface 1104 includes aparameter window 1120 in which EEG information, which may includephysiological parameters as well as a digital EEG stripchart, may bedisplayed. The EEG user interface 1104 includes soft buttons 606-610,which are each associated with predetermined functions, such as zoomin/out, print, save, and the like. The parameter window 1120 may also bedisplayed as part of a joint user interface that includes multipleparameter windows.

In some embodiments, a primary device or a virtual machine host mayinclude a web server for connecting to secondary or “client” devicesprovided by third party manufacturers. The primary device may shareresources with such secondary devices, such as display screens,printers, controls, wireless connections, and/or the like.

As described herein, a defibrillator, such as a portable defibrillator,may be configured to interface with other devices, for example medicaldevices. Such interface may be achieved via a web server hosted on thedefibrillator, and a client browser or device on the peripheral device,according to some embodiments of the present invention. Such interfacemay be achieved with the defibrillator acting as a host for a virtualmachine running on the defibrillator, with the virtual machine governingthe interface of the peripheral device with the defibrillator. Becausedefibrillators often have independent display hardware, printing orhardcopy hardware, control hardware, and/or power source hardware, suchhardware resources may be shared with peripheral medical devices asdescribed above and according to embodiments of the present invention,in order to decrease the number of components and/or the bulk or weightof the peripheral device. This can be especially beneficial forparamedics who must carry portable medical equipment in emergencymedical situations.

While many of the embodiments discussed above focus on sharing thescreen of a primary device, other resources of the primary device mayalso be shared. For example, a portable defibrillator may be equippedwith wireless communication capabilities to communication over WLAN orcellular networks. In those embodiments, the secondary device maytransmit its physiological information to the primary device, which canthen transmit the physiological information to a remote location, suchas a hospital. In some embodiments, the wireless capability of theprimary device is used to project its user interface to the remotelocation, so that the remote location can monitor the physiologicalparameters tracked by the various medical devices at the scene of theemergency.

Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplaryembodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer toparticular features, the scope of this invention also includesembodiments having different combinations of features and embodimentsthat do not include all of the above described features.

The following is claimed:
 1. A portable medical system for emergencyscenarios, the system comprising a medical device configured to measurea physiological parameter of a patient and to transmit the measuredphysiological parameter to a remote device; and a portable defibrillatorincluding a screen that displays user interfaces, wherein the portabledefibrillator is configured to operate in a defibrillator mode in whichdefibrillator information is displayed as part of a first user interfaceand in an external device mode in which the defibrillator receives themeasured physiological parameter from the medical device and displaysthe measured physiological parameter as part of a second user interface.2. The portable medical system of claim 1, wherein the medical device isa truncated medical device that includes components physicallyinteracting with the patient and omitting components of the medicaldevice that display the measured physiological parameter.
 3. Theportable medical system of claim 1, wherein the portable defibrillatoris configured to process the measured physiological parameter to derivepatient condition information and to display the patient conditioninformation as part of the second user interface.
 4. The portablemedical system of claim 3, wherein the medical device is a truncatedmedical device that includes components physically interacting with thepatient and omitting components of the medical device that display themeasured physiological parameter and that process the measuredphysiological parameter to derive patient condition information.
 5. Theportable medical system of claim 4, wherein the portable defibrillatoris configured to receive user input and wherein the portabledefibrillator is configured to respond to the user input when in thedefibrillator mode and to create control signals for the truncatedmedical device using the user input when in the external device mode. 6.The portable medical system of claim 3, wherein the medical device is anultrasound machine, wherein the truncated medical device includes atransducer probe of the ultrasound machine and wherein the portabledefibrillator is configured to process sound waves received by thetransducer probe to derive ultrasound data.
 7. The portable medicalsystem of claim 1, wherein the portable defibrillator includesperipheral resources and is configured to use those peripheral resourcesto convey the measured physiological parameter to emergency medicalpersonnel.
 8. The portable medical system of claim 7, wherein theperipheral resources includes a printer.
 9. The portable medical systemof claim 1, wherein the medical device and the portable defibrillatorare configured to wirelessly communicate.
 10. The portable medicalsystem of claim 1, wherein the medical device is adapted to physicallyconnect to the portable defibrillator.
 11. The portable medical systemof claim 1, wherein the portable defibrillator includes a common hostinterface configured to communicate with a plurality of differentmedical devices with a plurality of different protocols.
 12. A portabledefibrillator comprising: a defibrillator engine configured to receivedefibrillator information from defibrillator sensors coupled to apatient and display the defibrillator information; an external deviceengine configured to receive information from medical device sensorscoupled to the patient; a medical device virtual machine configured todisplay the patient parameter information from the medical deviceengine; and a display screen operating a user interface through whichthe defibrillator engine displays the defibrillator information and themedical device virtual machine displays the patient parameterinformation from the external device engine.
 13. The portabledefibrillator of claim 12, further comprising a defibrillator virtualmachine host that is configured to terminate the virtual machine. 14.The portable defibrillator of claim 13, wherein terminating the virtualmachine includes removing the patient parameter information from thedisplay screen and displaying only the defibrillator information. 15.The portable defibrillator of claim 13, wherein the defibrillatorvirtual machine host is configured to terminate the virtual machine upondetection of an alarm condition in the defibrillator information or anerror condition in the operation of the virtual machine.
 16. Theportable defibrillator of claim 12, wherein the user interface includesbuttons whose functions change depending on whether the defibrillatorengine or the medical device virtual machine is displaying informationand buttons whose functions do not change.
 17. The portabledefibrillator of claim 16, wherein the buttons whose functions do notchange are associated with functions for the defibrillator engine.
 18. Aportable defibrillator comprising: a virtual machine host configured toreceive defibrillator information from defibrillator sensors coupled toa patient; a medical device virtual machine configured to receivepatient parameter information from medical device sensors coupled to thepatient; and a display screen operating a user interface through whichthe virtual machine host displays the defibrillator information and themedical device virtual machine displays the patient parameterinformation.
 19. The portable defibrillator of claim 18, wherein thevirtual machine host is configured to terminate the medical devicevirtual machine.
 20. The portable defibrillator of claim 19, whereinterminating the medial device virtual machine includes removing thepatient parameter information from the display screen and displayingonly the defibrillator information.
 21. A method for operating aportable medical system, comprising receiving defibrillator informationfrom defibrillator sensors of a portable defibrillator; receivingpatient parameter information from medical device sensors of a medicaldevice; displaying the defibrillator information on a display screen ofthe portable defibrillator; and displaying the patient parameterinformation on the display screen of the portable defibrillator.
 22. Themethod of claim 21, wherein displaying the defibrillator information onthe display screen of the portable defibrillator and displaying thepatient parameter information on the display screen of the portabledefibrillator includes simultaneously displaying the defibrillatorinformation and the patient parameter information on the display screenof the portable defibrillator.
 23. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising operatively coupling the portable defibrillator to themedical device via a web server hosted on the portable defibrillator anda client browser on the medical device.
 24. The method of claim 21,further comprising storing the defibrillator information and the patientparameter information on a data storage device of the portabledefibrillator.
 25. The method of claim 21, further comprising deliveringpower from a power supply of the portable defibrillator to the medicaldevice.